ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Shop Regulars - "Shop Regulars"
On Shop Regulars’ self-titled record, the musical project’s ethos is laid bare on the album cover for all to see. It’s a bold move. This move could backfire easily for many artists, but the music presented absolutely lives up to the ethos they announce. They project it with beautifully crunchy results.
Broadcast - "Spell Blanket - Collected Demos 2006-2009" | Album Review
On the Spell Blanket demos, which were recorded after the release of Tender Buttons, it’s clear that the synthesis or contrast of different traditions of music was an overarching interest of this musical project. Unfortunately, with the untimely death of Trish Keenan, this aspect of Broadcast could not be fully appreciated until now.
Adrianne Lenker - "Bright Future" | Album Review
Adrianne Lenker is one of contemporary American folk music’s poets in residence. Between her song writing in Big Thief and her solo project, she manages to create worlds that feel so familiar, but then intertwine them with transcendentalist romanticism, rendering these views slightly more esoteric and impalpable.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Astrel K - "The Foreign Department"
The Foreign Department is Rhys Edwards’ (of Ulrika Spacek) follow up to 2022’s impressive Flickering I, released under the name Astrel K. Under this moniker, Edwards’ pop sensibility is more transparently laid bare. There’s equal parts hooks, sweet melancholy, and beautiful song arrangements throughout the album.
Ty Segall - "Three Bells" | Album Review
The passing of the lyric writing and, often, vocal duties, to his partner Denée Segall and collaborator, emphasizes the general musical direction Ty Segall seems to be taking his project. Both this record and his prior album, “Hi, Hello,” share what feels like less of an urgency to arrive at a specific destination.
R.M.F.C. - "Club Hits" | Album Review
The Woods - "So Long Before Now" | Album Review
So Long Before Now by The Woods is a charming artifact of 1980s underground culture and music. Only fully seeing the light of day just this year, the record feels remarkably contemporary. There’s something to be said about culture and styles repeating themselves, but there’s a special air to this record.
Insane Urge - "My America" | Album Review
My America by Insane Urge is a terse, even flying and fleeting, record. The listener can never catch the band. It feels purely intended to be as such. Their commentary through music and lyrics relates to contemporary times and their punk predecessors. All done in a mad-dash pace, the album clocking in at just over ten minutes.
Josiah Collins - "Spiral" | Post-Trash Premiere
Josiah Collins’ offerings are experiments in top-notch beat making; engaging electronica and techno pieces. On “Spiral,” more of his musical interests appear. He reflects, “After having some of my favorite shoegaze artists on constant rotation for months I fell so in love with the raw and engulfing feeling you get from the distorted guitars and soft vocals.”
Locate S,1 - "Wicked Jaw" | Album Review
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - "PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation" | Album Review
PetroDragonic Apocalypse sees the Aussie lads return to “thrash metal.” In a sense, nothing but the seeming violence of thrash will do the trick in stressing the importance of environmental awareness. In their new record, King Gizzard achieve this, with an even more brutal approach than their first full foray in Infest the Rats’ Nest.
The Bug Club and 2nd Grade Play to a Sold Out Union Pool | Live Review
The gods blessed a crowd with a perfectly paired bill on June 1, 2023. 2nd Grade and The Bug Club played at Union Pool in Brooklyn to a receptive audience. Some danced. Some bobbed their heads. Some remained still, with smiling faces., but the audience, indubitably, thoroughly enjoyed their perfectly prepared pairing.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Stuck - "Freak Frequency"
Stuck’s expertise lies in making deeply entertaining post-punk and art rock by means of leading the listener into unknown and unpredictable directions. Each song metaphorically tears into the listener with the canines and incisors and slowly but surely moves them into the morals in the back of the mouth, ruminating on its themes.
Modern Cosmology - "What Will You Grow Now?" | Album Review
Modern Cosmology knows how to have a focused jam. What Will You Grow Now? beautifully synthesizes the DNA of this collective of artists. On one side of the coin, Mombojó creates music in the tradition of Tropicália. On the flip side, Laetitia Sadier brings her unique vocal stylings, patterns, rhythms, and French pop.
Pearl & The Oysters - "Coast 2 Coast" | Album Review
Maximalist and controlled, Pearl & The Oysters have created a fully formed concept and sense of self. Far from Brave New World, this album quite nearly suggests there is no dystopia (or utopia) in the human being-toward-technology. It just is and the party is happening no matter what. You can love this fate and join in the dance.
Jana Horn - "The Window Is The Dream" | Album Review
Musically, The Window is the Dream, is a tightly woven textile, with minute intricacies. Vibraphone, bass, guitars, and synthesizers all cooperate or battle with Jana Horn’s voice to illuminate her images via purposeful poetry. The phrasing and delivery of the lyrics is laconic; her poetry is delivered as such. It is magical, uncompromising.